The Michael Jackson Estate criticised television network ABC and its parent company Disney over their upcoming special airing, 'The Last Days of Michael Jackson', and said, it was made without approval."We want consumers to know that The Last Days of Michael Jackson, a television special airing on ABC TV (a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) tomorrow May 24th, is not sponsored or approved by the Estate of Michael Jackson," the Jackson estate said in a statement, as quoted by Rolling Stone.Adding, "It is particularly disheartening that Disney, a company known to strongly believe in protecting its own IP rights, would choose to ignore these rights belonging to the Estate."The estate further said that the TV network used a "copyrighted photo" of the King of Pop to promote the show, however, it was removed after the former's attorney filed a notice of copyright infringement."We are told ABC intends to use music and other intellectual property owned by the Estate such as photos, logos,

Of late, there has been an effort in the United States to extend the term of copyright which has already been expanded two decades ago by the derisively called Mickey Mouse legislation, as it was perceived and quite truly that it was done with the purpose of giving the benefit to the copyright protection to Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters, stories, concepts and creative products.
The term 'copyright' in India is currently sixty years after the death of author, and in case of corporate ownership of copyright – like newspapers, news channels, contracted creative work, etc. – sixty years from the date of creation.
Copyright is typically granted for intellectual property in books, articles, speeches, songs, music, dance, drama, poetry, films, photographs, sculptures, paintings, computer programs, etc.
The purpose of copyright protection for a certain period of time is to grant exclusivity to the creator or owner of the intellectual property to be able to commercially exploit the work.
Once the term ...

New Delhi, Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said India will not allow itself to become a centre of data pilferage, and that data commerce through collusive methods cannot be used to influence its electoral process. Addressing the Plenary Session on ‘Media Regulation Policies: Ethics, Rules and Laws’, at the […]

Union Minister of Electronics & IT and Law & Justice, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad said today that for the Indian Government, freedom of media is integral to polity, duly recognized by the Constitution and reinforced by Judiciary in series of judgements.

The Internet poses a big challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), as it allows people to copy and make money by hosting the contents on different sites, a US expert said.
Christine Haight Farley, an American expert on IPR and Copyright Law, said efforts were underway to harmonise the difference in standards in intellectual property rights protection across various countries.
"Internet poses a lot of challenges for IPR protection of creative contents. It allows people to copy freely and make money out of it," she said.
Farley said that such free usage should be protected for which IPR plays an important role.
The expert said that IPR laws differ in countries but those who are signatory to the TRIPS agreement, are needed to maintain minimum standards.
"However, there are differences in standards in countries. There is a move to harmonise these differences in standards which will make IPR protection easier," she added.
Referring to India, Farley ...

India would continue to remain on the US' Priority Watch List for longstanding challenges in its IP framework and lack of sufficient measurable progress, the USTR said, alleging that the country remains one of the world's most challenging major economies in the area.
In its latest 2018 Special 301 Report, the US Trade Representative has placed 12 countries on its Priority Watch List.
In addition to India, other countries on the list are Algeria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
The Intellectual Property (IP) issues in these countries will be the subject of intense bilateral engagement during the coming year, the USTR said in its report.
Special 301 Report identifies US trading partners that do not adequately or effectively protect and enforce IP rights or otherwise deny market access to its innovators and creators that rely on protection of their IP rights.
India "remains on the Priority Watch List this year for longstanding

Officials of Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Cell have seized fake parts, labels and die tool machines worth Rs 35 lakh during a raid conducted here recently.
The IPR Enforcement Cell, Dindigul unit of Tamil Nadu Police along with officials of TVS Motor Company carried out a raid in some godowns in the district and recovered huge quantities of spare parts, unfinished counterfeit cannisters, die tool machines worth Rs 35 lakh, a press release said.
Following the seizure, IPR Enforcement Cell officials initiated legal action against the company involved in the supply of fake spare parts under the provisions of Copyright Act, the release said.
TVS Motor Company has taken up brand protection programme to ensure availability of genuine parts to consumers through its 4,000 touch points.
The Chennai-based company has appointed over 100 authorised parts stockists to supply genuine parts in retail markets across the country, the release added.

The Maharashtra government has pulled 11 websites down after receiving complaints from the entertainment industry that pirated content was displayed.
The Maharashtra Cyber Digital Crime Unit (MCDCU), started last August for systematically eliminating websites that upload pirated content, pulled down these websites.
Brijesh Singh, special Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra cyber cell, said the collective viewership of these websites was over 80 million.
The initiative, the first of its kind in the country, was launched by the Cyber Cell of Maharashtra Police following directions from the Home Department.
Laxman Kamble, the lone police inspector attached to the state government's Cyber Cell, said in a bid to contain piracy, a multi-stakeholder model has been created on a pilot basis.
Industry stakeholders and officers of the Cyber Cell are members, he told PTI.
Kamble said the pilot project was started after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis received complaints from media ...

The legal battle between the two makers of Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran has intensified after their alleged split. While initially, John Abraham and his company JA Entertainment announced that they're parting ways with Prernaa Arora and her production KriArj, who were co-producers on the project due to delay in payments and post production work.
John Abraham reportedly filed 3 criminal complaints against Prernaa and her company KriArj Entertainment on Saturday at the Khar police station ( Read full statement from John's spokesperson ). Now Prernaa has hit back at the actor and stated that no case has been registered against her or any member of her production company.
An official statement has been issued by the spokesperson of Prernaa Arora and her company KriArj Entertainment.
Here's what it read:
"This in response to the various articles being circulated by JA Entertainment claiming that criminal cases have been filed against Ms Prerna Arora of KriArj Entertainment. As also clarified by us at ...

Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd (TAFE) today said it has acquired Serbian tractor and agriculture equipment brand IMT - Industrija Masina i Traktora.
The size of the deal was however not disclosed.
TAFE has had a long association with IMT, which has a range of tractors between 35 hp and 210 hp and is a popular brand in eastern Europe, northern Africa and the Balkans, the company said in a statement.
Spanning across many decades, the two firms had business cooperation that involved supply of components, aggregates and technical support, it added.
"TAFE and IMT have shared a long mutually beneficial partnership. This acquisition will play a key role in TAFE's strategic and growth plans for the future," TAFE Chairman & CEO Mallika Srinivasan said.
Through this deal, TAFE acquires the right to use the brand and intellectual property rights, including designs, trademarks and copyright of IMT, the statement added.
"TAFE will support its local partner with supply of components and ...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A legal battle between online marketplace OLX and Pakistan's largest automobile sales website over intellectual property theft and copyright infringement could help boost the confidence of big tech names to invest in the ...